Chiseled into Cochrane’s entrance sign the words How the West is Now pretty much sum it up. This mountain-fringed hamlet has taken old-fashioned western gumption, fuelled by its roots in ranching, and parlayed it into creating a top-seeded business and lifestyle destination. It’s home to half a dozen sizeable tech companies, including Garmin Canada, 4iiii Innovations, Hunterwood Technologies and mcThings and is actively recruiting more — a feat that has those in the know dubbing it Silicon North.

Couple that with the town’s ample amenities, breathtaking beauty and close proximity to Canmore and it’s no wonder that Sunset Magazine recently voted Cochrane as one of North America’s top 20 game-changing places to live — it was the only Canadian locale to hit the list.

“We are not only celebrating our history, but also embracing our future. We are really working on facilitating a business environment that is welcoming to start ups or to businesses that want to relocate,” says Cochrane’s mayor, Jeff Genung.

He lists a string of pluses from low business tax to a state-of-the-art fibre network, providing a strong network of Internet capabilities, along with close proximity to Calgary’s International Airport.

“But we are also just a hop, skip and a jump to the mountains, so we are not just a place for a business to locate, but also where their employees would want to live as well,” he adds.

“A number of these companies are closely connected to the health and fitness industry and when you consider Cochrane’s location cradled by a rough-hewn landscape, the Bow River and the Rocky Mountains, it makes complete sense that the subset of the population that is entrepreneurial and risk-leaning would be attracted to the town.”

But despite all of the business influx, she says that Cochrane didn’t escape some slow downs in the real estate market in 2018.

“We’ve seen a lot of people right sizing, deciding that a smaller home might be a better choice for the next five to seven years,” Mendonca says.

Sunset Ridge, however still experienced growth, in part due to very diverse and affordable housing options, as well as some attractive amenities, coupled with Cochrane’s stellar amenity pool including the world-class Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.

Bill MacDonald, director of land development at La Vita Land Inc., developer behind the Willows and Fireside, agrees that the town’s landscape and small-town charm is still a major attraction for homebuyers wanting to live an amenity-rich and affordable lifestyle.

“But, homebuyers are taking more time to do their research and ensuring they are gaining maximum value for their money,” he says.

Currently Cochrane’s population hovers at around 28,000, and lively growth over the past decade has created a few growing pains, namely, traffic congestion.

But all of the growth has been a “good problem” says the mayor.

“Growth brings positivity and newness and fresh ideas and people to the community,” says Genung.

The town is projecting and budgeting on a four per cent population growth over the next three years.

“And that’s in a down turn. I would like to see us positioned so that we have the amenities and the infrastructure in place to facilitate the next boom,” says Genung.

And those infrastructure upgrades have already begun, starting with what the mayor calls the Freedom Bridge, a $54 million project that will bridge the Bow River between the north and south side of Cochrane, alleviating traffic on the current 22 Bridge. The new bridge will be open in late 2020.

And with population growth comes new communities, including the new downtown urban master-planned mixed-use community of Greystone, which upon final build-out will be home to approximately 1,300 residents.

The new community, designed by Calgary’s urban planning firm, Brown and Associates, will transform the former Burnco Gravel pit site, in a similar fashion to Calgary’s Quarry Park. A new hotel, a business park, a vibrant retail component and a high street with an urban plaza and pond feature, along with several green spaces, baseball diamonds and soccer pitches are all part of the plan.

“It’s an exciting project for sure,” says Josh Hagen, vice-president of development for Burnswest Properties Ltd., the developer behind the 140-acre project that has been in the works for about three years.

“It’s a true mixed-use community with all kinds of residential products, plus industrial, commercial, retail, a grocery store, and hotel, basically everything you can imagine will be captured. It will be very livable, walkable, a live-work-play community,” he says.

Just across the river from the future Greystone site, Tamani Communities is releasing the new community of Precedence, the final neighbourhood in Riversong.

“We’ve definitely saved the best for the last,” says Cam Hart, vice-president of Tamani Communities. “It’s located in a prime spot, on top of a large natural area and escarpment, giving it commanding view of the surroundings, including views of the Rockies, the Bow River Valley and the Town of Cochrane.”

Home products include townhome and laned homes by Trico, and semi-estate paired homes and single-detached homes by Jayman. The show home parade will open in May.